“Diaper” was my first daughter’s first word. And while that makes for a fun story, it’s also a reflection of the fact that I never felt more like a mom than when I was changing her diaper.

Despite the bad wrap it gets, for me diaper changing was a moment to clean, comfort, sing, smile, and play with my little girl. See she was born 3 weeks before 9/11. So like everyone else three weeks later, and in between caring for my newborn, I was glued to the TV learning about those thousands of souls who went to work that day, or boarded a plane but who would never return home to their families….never get to comfort or care for their loved ones again. Even more than nursing her, diaper changing time became a moment to treasure being there for my baby, even while doing the “dirty work.”

But it’s difficult to see diaper changing time as a blessing when you don’t know where the next diaper is going to come from. Diapers and pull-ups are expensive. Kids go through a lot of them. And, they take up a lot of space so family-focused charities don’t typically stock or provide a bunch at a time. This all compounds the financial stresses moms & dads are feeling anyway. Love, Lydia was formed with hopes of relieving a little bit of that stress to promote further parent-child bonding.

Here in Central Kitsap, we didn’t have a dedicated diaper bank until Love, Lydia formed in 2021. Right now we are a small organization funded by the donations of a few families. We hope to grow with time and awareness, next being able to increase annual provision limits and extend our service beyond Central Kitsap as additional partners join the mission.